This week, the Swiss Federal Council declared that individual sports like tennis can be taken up again in May. Clubs need to adhere to strict protection requirements, which will be spelled out next week. It is highly probable that contact tracing is among them, which means that clubs need a digital system to record who played when, respecting data protection laws.

For Diego Seitz, this proves to be a welcome relief. Diego, an avid tennis player himself, is co-founder and CEO of GotCourts, the official digital platform for tennis players in Switzerland. Also available in 7 other countries, there are close to 2000 courts on the platform, and it registered half a million bookings in 2019. It is more than just a tool. It has become a tennis-based social network. When I last spoke to Diego in October 2019, GotCourts had just announced a partnership with Swiss Tennis, which made it the official app for this sport in Switzerland. And Diego had his eyes fixed on international expansion: There are 25 million racket sports players in Europe.

But then, COVID-19 happened. With the lockdown due to the coronavirus, the sports world suddenly stood still. GotCourts revenues dwindled away. The startup was in an existential crisis. Diego had to let go of a part of the team. Even if the dismissals didn’t come as a surprise, as the team was well aware of the dire situation the startup was in, it was an emotional moment. “These are friends we’ve worked with for a long time, which have contributed a lot”, Diego says.

After the initial shock of corona, the question arose about what GotCourts could do. The startup reached out to more than 700 clubs to ask what problems they were dealing with. It wasn’t just a financial issue. Communication to the members was difficult as well, especially for those who weren’t well versed in the art of digital marketing or videoconferencing. So GotCourts started doing webinars and acted as a sort of digital communication coach for clubs during the crisis.

Switzerland is now preparing to come out of the lockdown step by step. The GotCourts app suddenly takes center stage for all clubs and tennis players. To play again, they have to make a reservation through GotCourts to ensure traceability. The digital reservation platform also allows clubs to manage the flow of people on the courts and provide buffer time between games to minimize contact. According to Diego, Swiss Tennis is a digital pioneer and probably one of very few sports organizations that already have a system in place to assure traceability nationwide. He is also in contact with clubs in Austria and Germany.

This announcement in Switzerland has sped up adoption in an unprecedented way. Over 100 tennis clubs reached out and want to install the reservation system to get the season going as fast as possible. For them, the offer is free until the end of June and they can cancel anytime afterwards. “In this phase, what counts is to help the clubs get up and running again as soon as possible” Diego says. Free instruction courses and webinars help the clubs’ officials to get acquainted with the system.

For GotCourts, 2020 started in a very tough way, but suddenly the outlook is much better. The reopening of the courts starts right in time to ensure a more or less normal season. “In a global health crisis, sports are clearly not the first priority”, Diego says. “But we want to do everything we can so that the crisis doesn’t swallow everything. People want to get their normal life back, and stay healthy in body and spirit”.